JPH02270704A - Automatic warehouse control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely and efficiently deliver stocks in a short time in a predetermined order with the use of a simple arrangement, by preparing a delivery instruction row in accordance with data of a delivery order, and by delivering a delivery instruction signal at the time of a delivery instruction time in this delivery instruction row or at every predetermined time so that a delivery device delivers a stock at a predetermined time in accordance with the instruction signal. CONSTITUTION:When data of a delivery order is issued from a delivery order data input section 11, a delivery instruction row computing means 12 prepares a delivery instruction row which instructs delivery instruction times in accordance with the delivery order data, an operation initiating time, required delivery times at delivery devices 15a through 15c, times of passing at a merging point 17 and the like. A time managing means 13 manages this delivery instruction row and picks up a deliver instruction time from this delivery instruction row when a delivery instruction time comes up or at every designated time, which is then delivered to a delivery instruction section 14 which delivers a delivery instruction to each of the delivery devices 15a through 15c. With this arrangement, it is possible to surely and effectively deliver stocks in a predetermined order.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to an automatic warehouse control system that unloads articles from a plurality of unloading devices and outputs them through a confluence on a conveyance path. In particular, the present invention relates to an automatic warehouse control system that can efficiently unload articles from multiple unloading devices without having an article passage detection function or the like without colliding with each other at a merging section.

(Prior art) In conventional general automated warehouse control systems, the fourth
As shown in the figure, a shipping order data input section 1 inputs shipping order data specifying the shipping order, shipping articles, shipping device, etc., and issuing a shipping instruction based on the shipping order data from the shipping order data input section 1. and an unloading device 4 that receives an unloading instruction from the unloading instructing unit 2 and unloads the articles to unloading routes 3a, 3b, and 3c, which serve as transport routes for the unloading device 4.
a, 4b, 4c, and each delivery device 4a, 4b.

4c, each of the exit routes 3a, 3b, and 3c, and an article passage detection means 7 for detecting articles passing through the confluence route 6 through the confluence section 5.

Therefore, according to such a system, for example, when part A is to be delivered from the delivery device 4a and part B is to be delivered from the delivery device 4b, and the parts A and B arrive in the order,
The part A passes through the merging section 5 along the delivery route 3a and enters the merging route 6.
At this time, the passage of the part A is detected by the article passage detection means 7, and an article passage detection signal is sent to the shipping device 4b. Here, the unloading device 4b unloads the part B for the first time.

As a result, the time required for parts A and B to be delivered is the actual delivery time, where T is the time required for delivery from the delivery device 4a, T is the time required for delivery from the delivery device 4b, and t is the time to pass through the confluence section. Time=T0T'10t. Therefore, although such a system has a configuration in which a plurality of delivery devices 4a, 4b, and 4c are provided and can operate in parallel, no advantage of parallel operation can be obtained.

Therefore, as a means to improve the problems of the above system,
Fuyuyama JTL (Article passage detection means 8a, 8b with a waiting function near the confluence of routes 3a, 3b, and 3c.

8C is installed, and each unloading device 4a is sent from the unloading instruction section 2 to the unloading device 4a.

When instructions for leaving the warehouse are issued to 4b and 4c at the same time, the time required for leaving the warehouse is T for parts A and B, respectively.

It arrives at the confluence section 5 after T', but at this time, the article passage detection means 8a, 8b, 8c sends the part A first to the confluence section 5 due to the relationship TNT', and during that time, the article with a waiting function passes through the article A. On the passage detection means 8b side, the gate is closed to place the part B in a waiting state, and after a predetermined time, when receiving an exit instruction from the article passage detection means 7 or the article passage detection means with waiting function 8a, the gate is opened and the part B is placed in a waiting state. The configuration is such that the data is sent to 5.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) Therefore, in the system as described below, it is possible to appropriately unload the articles from the plurality of unloading devices 4a, 4b, 4c in a predetermined order without causing any collision at the merging section 5. Therefore, the article passage detection means 7 and the article passage detection means 8a with waiting function are used.
, 8b, 8c, etc. are not only necessary, but also a method is adopted in which the next operation is determined using the article passage detection timing signal from these detection means 7.8a, 8b, 8c. When controlling the delivery of many articles, there is a problem that the loss time becomes large and it is not possible to take out the large number of articles efficiently.
, 8b, 8c, etc., there is a problem that collisions may occur at the merging section 5, or the order of delivery may be reversed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to reliably take out a plurality of articles in a predetermined order without any collisions without having an article passage detection function or a waiting function, etc., and moreover, efficiently in the shortest time. The purpose is to provide an automatic warehouse control system that enables warehouse retrieval.

[Configuration of the Invention (Means for Solving the Problems)] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention uses unloading order data from the manual department, unloading time data from each unloading device to the merging section, and unloading order data from the human resource department, and unloading time data from each unloading device to the merging section. There is provided an exit instruction sequence calculation means for creating an exit instruction sequence specifying the exit instruction time of each exiting device from part passage time data, etc., and further, the system manages the exit instruction sequence created by this exit instruction sequence calculation means, and A time management means is provided for sending a signal to the unloading instruction unit or directly to the unloading device to sequentially unload the article from the corresponding unloading device when the unloading instruction time in the unloading instruction sequence is reached or at every predetermined time, and this time management means is provided. The corresponding unloading device is configured to unload the article at the designated unloading time based on the signal from the means.

Further, in the unloading instruction sub-computation means, the unloading completion time of each unloading device is determined, and the unloading completion time of each subsequent unloading device is obtained by adding the confluence passing time to the unloading completion time to obtain the unloading completion time of each subsequent unloading device. a time calculation means; a simulated exit instruction time calculation means for calculating a simulated exit instruction time for each exit device by subtracting the required exit time from the exit completion time of the article for each exit device obtained by the calculation means; the simulated exit instruction time; An exit instruction sequence in which subsequent simulated exit instructions times are corrected so that the earliest simulated exit instruction time among the simulated exit instructions times obtained by the calculation means matches the operation start time, and the exit instruction time of each exit device is specified. It is equipped with a means to create a.

(Function) Therefore, the present invention takes the following measures, so that when the delivery order data is received from the delivery order input section, the delivery completion time calculation means of the delivery instruction sub-computation means inputs the delivery order data. After determining the time for completion of delivery from the first delivery device from the required delivery time and operation start time of the first delivery device, which is determined from Find the completion time. Thereafter, in the warehousing instruction sub-calculation means, the warehousing instruction time calculation means subtracts the warehousing required time from the warehousing completion time of the article of each warehousing apparatus N obtained by the warehousing completion time calculation means to calculate the simulated warehousing of each warehousing apparatus. Find the indicated time. Then, the next and subsequent simulated exit instructions times are corrected so that the earliest of these simulated exit instructions times matches the operation start time, and an exit instruction sequence is created that specifies the exit instruction time of each exit device. After that, this delivery instruction sequence is sent to the time management means.

Therefore, this time management means sends a signal to sequentially output the goods from the corresponding unloading device when the unloading instruction time in the unloading instruction sequence is reached or at every predetermined time before each unloading instruction time is reached. department or directly to the shipping device. Here, if the articles are taken out of the warehouse at the specified leaving instruction time from each delivery device, the articles from each delivery device will not collide at the merging section and can be left at very short intervals.

(Embodiment) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the automatic warehouse control system of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This system includes a dispatch order data input section 1 for inputting a dispatch order, a dispatch article, a dispatch device, or a dispatch order data having a smaller or larger number of data, and a dispatch order data human input section. Based on the unloading order data manually entered from 11, the operation start time, the required unloading time for each unloading device, the confluence passage time, etc.--the unloading instruction sub-computation means for creating an unloading instruction sequence specifying the unloading instruction time] 2. , the time to manage the exit instruction string created by the exit instruction sub-computation means 12 and extract and output the exit instruction time from the exit instruction string at each designated time interval when the exit instruction time is reached or at each designated time. A management means 13, a delivery instruction unit 14 that issues delivery instructions based on the delivery instruction time received from the time management unit 13, and a plurality of delivery devices 15 that issue articles based on instructions from the delivery instruction unit 14.
a, ], 5b, and 15c, and furthermore, a confluence section 17 is provided at the downstream end of each delivery device 15a, 15b, and 15c via a delivery path that is a conveyance path], 6a, ], 6b, and 16c. , each shipping device 15a, 15b, 15
Goods discharged from warehouse c are routed through exit routes 16 a, 16
b, 16 c and the merging route 18 via the merging section 17
The configuration is such that it is output to . In addition, time management means 1
3 may directly instruct each of the delivery devices 15a to 15c to leave the warehouse.

Next, the operation of the leaving instruction time calculation means 12 in the system configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. In addition, for convenience of explanation, each shipping device 15a, 15b.

A case will be described in which the time required for leaving the warehouse from 15c is 4 minutes, 3 minutes, or 7 minutes, the time to pass through the confluence section is 1 minute, and the operation start time is 12:00.

First, when the unloading order data as shown in FIG. The contents of the delivery instructions are read from the order data in the order of the delivery order (Step S1), and the required delivery time of the delivery device 15a with the delivery order "1" is read from the memory (Step S2). After that, step S3
Then, based on the content of the delivery instruction, it is determined whether, for example, the delivery device 15a is the first one. When it is determined that the unloading device 15a is the first one, the operation start time of 12:00 is set in the simulated unloading instruction time area corresponding to the unloading device 15a with the unloading order "1" as shown in FIG. 2(b) (step S4). Furthermore, the required time for leaving the warehouse of the leaving device 15a, "4 minutes", is added to the leaving instruction time (operation start time) of 12:00 for the leaving device 15a, and the leaving time is 12:04.
After determining (step S5), it is stored in the exit completion time area of the exit device 15a.

Next, in step S6, it is determined whether all exit instruction times have been acquired. Here, the current issue order is “1”.
'' is acquired, so it is determined that not all have been acquired, and the process returns to step S1 to read out the contents of the unloading instruction for the next unloading order ``2'', and similarly read out the required unloading time of the corresponding unloading device 15b. (Step S2), and it is determined whether or not this exit device 15a is the first one (Step S3).

In this case, since the unloading device 15b is not at the beginning, the process moves to step S7, and here, the unloading completion time of 12:04 obtained from the previous unloading order is added to the confluence passage time "1 minute", and the unloading order is " Delivery completion time 1 of delivery device 15b of 2″
I get 2:05. After that, this delivery completion time 12:
Subtract the required time for leaving the warehouse "3 minutes" from 05 and select the leaving device 1.
Obtain the simulated delivery instruction time 12:02 of 5b (step S
8).

The same process is performed for the shipping order "3", and the result shown in Fig. 2 (
Complete a table like b).

The table shown in FIG. 2(b) is completed as described above, but at this time, in step S6, it is determined that all simulated exit instruction times have been obtained, so the process moves to the next step 9. Here, the earliest simulated leaving instruction time is selected from the table in FIG. 2(b).

In other words, search for 11:59, and the operation start time is 12:00.
After calculating the difference of ``1 minute'' between the two and adding this one-minute difference to each simulated exit instruction time (step 510), the results are sorted in descending order of the exit instruction time, as shown in Figure 2 (c). You can create a table of exit instruction columns with exit instruction times (
Step 511). This table of delivery instructions is then sent to the time management means 13, where time management is performed.

That is, the time management means 13 controls the exit device 1 when the time reaches 12:00 based on the exit instruction sequence shown in FIG. 2(c).
5c sends a command signal for shipping the part 3 to the shipping instruction unit 14.
Then, at 12:01, the delivery device 1
5a sends a command to send part 1 out of stock, and similarly 12
:03, the unloading device 2 sends a command signal to unload the parts 2 to the unloading instruction section 14. As a result, the exit instruction section 14 issues an exit instruction to the corresponding exit devices 15c, 15a, and 15b under the command signal from the time management means 13. Then, since the retrieval time required for the retrieval/equipment 15c that unloads the first part is 7 minutes, the merging section 17 has 12:
07, and since the required time for delivery of the parts from the delivery device 15a is 4 minutes, the part reaches the confluence part 15 at -12705,
Further, since the required time for delivery of the parts from the delivery device 15b is 3 minutes, the parts arrive at the confluence section 15 at 12:06. Therefore, the parts 1 of the unloading device 15a are placed in this confluence section 15 at 12:05.
, Part 2 of the unloading device 15b was released at 12:06, the unloading device 15
Part 3 of c reaches 12=07 and passes through the merging section 15 one minute later, so there is no need to have an article passage detection function or a time waiting function, and moreover, multiple deliveries can be made efficiently in a very short time interval. It is possible to have items shipped.

Therefore, according to the configuration of the embodiment as described above, each unloading device 1 is
5a, 15b, and 15c, and calculate the leaving instruction time of 11.5a, 15b, and 15c. Each delivery device 15a to 1.5 based on the +1 hour
Since the goods are taken out of the warehouse from c and are passed through the confluence section 17 in a predetermined order, multiple unloading devices can be used instead of having a function of detecting the passage of goods or a waiting function as in the past. Items 15a to 1.5c can be taken out of the warehouse, and the operation start time is set to Since the designated time is obtained, and the designated time for each unloading device 15a to 15c is obtained by considering the operation start time based on this simulated unloading designated time, the goods from each unloading device 15a to 1.5c are can pass through the confluence section 15 without any collision.In addition, each article can be delivered in the shortest possible time.
Articles can be efficiently delivered from the plurality of delivery devices 15a to 15c.

In the above embodiment, the case where there is one merging point has been described, but it can be easily applied to the case where there are two or more merging points by performing the above calculation for each merging point. In addition, if the system performs calculations sequentially from the downstream merging section to the upstream side so that the goods pass through the ``2nd downstream merging section'' and then the downstream merging section, then ``2. It can be easily applied to systems that have Furthermore, when the confluence section 17 serves as an exit port, the time taken to pass through the confluence section can be replaced with the article removal time. In addition, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained below, according to the present invention, a plurality of articles can be arranged in a predetermined order without colliding with each other at a merging section without having a function of detecting passage of articles or a waiting function as in the past. To provide an automatic warehouse control system that can reliably take out warehouses and efficiently take out warehouses in the shortest time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 to 3 are shown to explain one embodiment of the system of the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of the system;
Fig. 2 is a flowchart explaining the operation of the delivery instruction sequence calculation means shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a data table diagram created based on the delivery order data and the operation shown in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a conventional system. FIG. 1]... Delivery order data input unit, ]2... +++ Warehouse instruction sequence calculation means, 13... Time management means, 14...
111 warehouse instruction section, 15a to 15c... warehouse delivery device, 1.
6 a~], 6 c... Outgoing route, 17... Merging section, 18... Merging route. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) In an automatic warehouse control system in which goods are delivered from a plurality of delivery devices based on delivery order data and outputted through individual transport routes and a merging section, the delivery order data;
An exit instruction sequence calculation means for creating an exit instruction sequence specifying an exit instruction time for each exiting device from data on the required exit time from each exiting device to the merging section and time data for passing through the merging section; Manages the created shipping instruction sequence, and sends a signal to the shipping instruction unit or directly to the shipping device to sequentially ship the article from the corresponding shipping device when the shipping instruction time of the shipping instruction string reaches the shipping instruction time or at every predetermined time. 1. An automatic warehouse control system comprising: a time management means for sending out articles; and based on a signal from the time management means, a corresponding unloading device unloads articles at a designated time for unloading. (2) The unloading instruction sequence calculation means calculates the unloading completion time from the first unloading device from the unloading time and operation start time of the first unloading device determined from the unloading order data, and calculates the unloading completion time from the first unloading device based on the unloading completion time. and a retrieval completion time calculation means for calculating the retrieval completion time of each subsequent retrieval device by adding the retrieval completion time of each retrieval device. A simulated exit instruction time calculation means for calculating a simulated exit instruction time, and subsequent simulated exits so as to match the earliest simulated exit instruction time among the simulated exit instruction times obtained by the simulated exit instruction time calculation means with the operation start time. 2. The automatic warehouse control system according to claim 1, further comprising means for correcting the designated time and creating a shipping instruction sequence specifying the shipping instruction time of each shipping device.